Financial Services

The state's business lobby group is urging the federal government to come to Western Australia to discuss the impact of the global turmoil on local business and industry.

The decision to freeze customer funds was not easy but prudent due to current economic conditions, AXA Asia Pacific chief executive Andrew Penn says.

BHP Billiton Plc, the world's biggest miner, is poised to snap up smaller players struggling amid the gloom affecting the global economy.

Treasurer Troy Buswell is considering an overhaul of the Department of Housing and Works after the agency revealed it will have a shortfall of $235 million this financial year.

Handini Resources Ltd has followed the downward trend of the overall market, debuting on the local bourse at an 8 per cent discount to its issue price.

Falling lead prices and costs associated with maintenance works at its suspended Wiluna operation in Western Australia have prompted miner Magellan Metals to lay off 18 people.

Melbourne-based St Barbara Ltd has poured first gold from its Leonora operation in Western Australia.

Premier Colin Barnett has today insisted that there is no disagreement with Nationals Leader Brendon Grylls over the royalties for regions policy, as the opposition steps up calls for more clarity on the funding program.

Mining services company NRW Holdings Ltd has been awarded a three-year contract, valued at $180 million, for works at OM Holdings Ltd's Bootu Creek manganese mine in the Northern Territory.

WESTERN Australia's insulation from the global financial market turmoil is getting thinner by the day, as the risk of a significant and broadly based decline in commodity prices rises with each disturbing escalation of the credit crunch.

LAST week, global stock markets experienced possibly the worst days of trading that will be seen during the current bear phase.

WA Business News' fourth annual State Economic Review comes at a time when the world economic system is facing its greatest challenge for decades.

LABOUR market pressures remain high in the Western Australian economy, with the skills shortage continuing to hit hard and the wage price index running ahead of the rest of the country.

WHEN John Pica bought in to the Garden City franchise of global hair reduction specialists, Hairfee, in September 2007, he was sure he had chosen a winning business.

THE state government posted a record surplus in 2007-08 of $2.56 billion, fuelled by significant growth in mining royalties and taxation revenue.

CI Resources Ltd director Lip Sin Tee spent $650,000 boosting his stake in the company to more than 16 per cent. He now holds about 13 million shares at a value of $15.2 million.

PERTH'S housing market has been through a difficult few years.

THE latest round of national research grants has highlighted the University of Western Australia's status as the state's premier research institution, though the grants also indicate that WA as a whole has not performed well.

DESPITE the global credit crunch, which has wiped trillions of dollars off international share markets and made it more difficult for business to borrow money, Western Australia has again recorded another stellar year of growth, and the outlook remains st

RISING office rents in the Perth CBD are prompting a change in the city's tenant profile, with a number of companies relocating after rent reviews, and others pushed out of the city into fringe suburbs.

THE odds are very much against the survival of the BankWest brand now that the bank has been bought by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

THE Western Australian economy ended the 2007-08 financial year on a positive note, with most of the growth again driven by increased business investment.

THE state’s economy could yet feel the impact of the global financial crisis, which has already lifted the cost of borrowing and could make it increasingly difficult to access finance.

WHAT a roller coaster ride it's been in the past week or so.

HIGHER than expected revenue projections over the next two years have prompted the state government to cut land tax by 7 per cent, Treasurer Troy Buswell has announced.

A key market analyst says a realistic outlook for nickel prices over the next few years is around $US17,000 per tonne and producers should take heart from an expected doubling in demand over current levels by 2030.

Perth-based energy group Aviva Corp Ltd has agreed to a $22 million merger with Canadian coal producer NEMI Northern Energy and Mining Inc.

An arbitrator has been called in to settle a dispute between Alinta and its gas supplier, the Woodside-operated North West Shelf venture, that could involve third parties by way of subpoenas.

Perth has recorded the smallest increase in the rate of inflation over the September quarter, while the nation's headline inflation consumer price index rose at its fastest pace in almost 13 years.

Global disaster averted: Reserve; Swan puts price on deposit guarantee; Market split as short ban lengthened; Lender homes in on Wizard; NAB warns of more pain before gain

Higher than expected revenue projections over the next two years have prompted the state government to cut land tax by 7 per cent, Treasurer Troy Buswell announced today.

Paladio Group Ltd subsidiary, Decmil Australia Pty Ltd, has secured its second Woodside contract, worth $115 million, for civil works at the Pluto liquefied natural gas project.